In communications systems that receive data from connectionless data-based networks, appropriate steps must be taken to deal with the possibility of lost cells. In some systems, for example, those using Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Adaptation Layer One (AAL1) lost cell processing in accordance with the International Telecommunication Union Specification ITU-T I.363.1 Robust Sequence Number Algorithm, lost cells may be handled by inserting dummy cells to fill the space that would have been occupied by the lost cell or cells. This requires moving a cell that has already been stored to make room for a dummy cell. This is a computationally expensive operation, and one does not know that a stored cell must be moved to make room for a dummy cell until it has already been stored. Alternately, a dedicated stored cell memory can be employed, but lost cell handling is then limited by the size of the dedicated memory.
Accordingly, there is a need in the prior art for a more efficient way to handle lost cells.